Layer cake with ribbon and bow hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 3 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Layer cake with ribbon and bow: preview of the stitched design

A layer cake stands on a tall cake stand, seen from the front, with a ribbon tied round it in a bow. The cake outline, the icing border, the shell border and the outlines of the five piped kisses along the top are brown stem stitch. Under the kisses runs a row of five pink French knots, the pearls. The ribbon crosses the cake in pink stem stitch, and the outlines of the loops of the bow, the smaller outline inside each loop, and the outlines of the tails of the bow are pink stem stitch too; only the knot of the bow is satin stitch. The stand outline is gray stem stitch.

Size and details

Easy. In a hoop of 6 inches or less: stem stitch and French knots, with a little satin stitch; in a larger hoop the widest satin stitches are long.

3 colors of floss and 3 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.4 × 1.3 in	3.6 × 3.3 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.1 × 2 in	5.3 × 5.1 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.8 × 2.7 in	7.1 × 6.9 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.5 × 3.4 in	8.9 × 8.6 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	4.9 × 4.7 in	12.4 × 11.9 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)

In a 3 inch hoop the French knots are drawn smaller than about 2 mm (a little over 1/16 in). Use one strand of floss for them there, or choose a larger hoop.

The pattern is drawn inside a circle about half an inch (1.3 cm) smaller all around than the hoop.

What you need

DMC 3781 Dark Mocha BrownOutlines of the piped kisses, cake outline, icing border and shell border
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RosePearls, ribbon, outlines of the tails of the bow, outlines of the loops of the bow, eyes of the loops and knot of the bow
DMC 414 Dark Steel GrayStand outline

The floss is six-strand cotton; the stitch guide says how many strands to use. You also need a hoop, an embroidery needle (a size 7 to 9 suits two or three strands) and plain cotton or linen fabric. To frame the piece in its hoop, cut a square 3 inches (8 cm) wider than the hoop: a 9 inch (23 cm) square for a 6 inch hoop.

Stitch guide

Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsOutlines of the piped kisses, cake outline, icing border, shell border, ribbon, outlines of the tails of the bow, outlines of the loops of the bow, eyes of the loops, stand outline
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsPearls
Satin stitch 2 strandsKnot of the bow

Getting it onto your fabric

The PDF holds the pattern twice at actual size: once as drawn, and once mirrored for an iron-on transfer pen. Print it at 100% with scaling off and check the one-inch square (25.4 mm) with a ruler before you trace. How to transfer a pattern explains tracing, carbon paper and the other ways. The files are under Downloads.